


Peter was scared

by joyful_soul_collector



Series: Irondad Oneshots [2]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Comicverse), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers Compound, Gen, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker Has Issues, Peter Parker Has Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker has PTSD, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Still Has Arc Reactor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:28:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24152083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joyful_soul_collector/pseuds/joyful_soul_collector
Summary: Peter stays at the Avengers Compound for the first timeRated T for swearing
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Irondad Oneshots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1884265
Comments: 44
Kudos: 407
Collections: Peter Parker Stories, Peter Parker's Tales, ellie marvel fics - read





	Peter was scared

**Author's Note:**

> "@keep-a-bucket-full-of-stars asked "Ohhhh can you do one for the line: “Peter was scared.”?? Please?? Congratulations on 300 followers hon, you’re amazing!"

Peter was scared. Not quite like “crushed by a building” scared, or “I have a history test tomorrow” scared, or even “maybe that wasn’t the best decision” scared, but a bit of all three and then some, mixing around in his stomach with all the terrified nausea in there. 

And all just because he would be spending the weekend at the Avengers Compound for the first time. Well, that wasn’t the _only_ reason, but he didn’t want to think about the other one yet. Aunt May was going to be out of town for a few days, and as soon as Peter had casually mentioned this to his mentor Tony Stark, Tony had all but insisted that he stay at the compound until she got back. 

So here he was, sitting the backseat of a car headed for Upstate New York. And wishing more than anything that he wasn’t. 

_Alright, maybe not more than_ **_anything_** , Peter reasoned, watching the world outside flash by. _I do wish I was bulletproof. What’s the point of superpowers without bullet-immunity? Or at least a way to make it really easy to avoid it. Like superspeed. But it’s_ **_fine_ ** _, I can stick to walls and have super strength. Basically really stubborn wallpaper._

Peter spent the rest of the ride thinking about nothing in particular until he saw the large white building looming on the horizon, and he felt his stomach do a nervous backflip and his heart start to pound. And it only got worse when he saw Tony waiting for him, his hands shoved in his pockets and a smirk on his face. 

“Hey there Underoos!” he said as Peter got out, lugging his backpack and a duffel bag with his clothes and toothbrush.

“Hey Mr. Stark!” Peter said, doing his best to mask the anxiety making him want to grimace rather than grin. Tony didn’t seem to notice, and Peter breathed a mental sigh of relief.

“Here lemme help you with that.” Tony held out a hand to take Peter’s backpack, but Peter held it just out of his reach. 

“You sure?” he said with a smirk, knowing Tony would take the bait. “It’s _really_ heavy.” As he suspected, Tony rolled his eyes and gave him an exasperated glare. 

“I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say that. Gimme,” he said, making grabby-hands at the strap of Peter’s backpack. Peter slid it off his shoulder and held it out to Tony. As soon as he let it go Tony had to scramble to keep it from hitting the pavement, ending up with both arms wrapped around his backpack. 

“Jesus--What the hell is in this thing!?” he said, struggling to get one of the straps over his shoulder. “Did you bring some tech in here with you or something?”

“Nope, that’s just my computer and my homework. And it’s actually a bit lighter than usual, I took out all my chemistry and calculus homework since I did it already,” Peter said. The look on Tony’s face made him burst into laughter, easing the knot of anxiety in his chest a bit. 

“Jeez, how do normal, non-spider kids do this?” he muttered as they made their way to the front doors, hunching over slightly, and almost making Peter feel bad for not carrying it himself. Almost. He was literally asking for it. 

“Well it definitely wasn’t a fun time back when I was a string bean with asthma. I had to use my inhaler any time I had to walk more than a block with that thing. Aunt May used to meet me outside our apartment building so she could carry it up the steps for me,” Peter said with a laugh, opening the door and holding it, letting Tony walk through and promptly drop the backpack on the nearest chair. When he stood up straight again Peter heard his back crack and giggled at the frown on Tony’s face. 

“That’s it. I’m making a drone to carry your stuff for you. Cuz _that--_ ” he pointed to the offending bag, “--is _bullshit_.”

“I have super strength, it’s not really heavy anymore,” Peter said with another snort of laughter. “It would be better to somehow convince my teachers I don’t really need five hours of homework every night.”

“Friday, remind me to figure out how much money it would take for a teacher to be bribed into giving less homework,” Tony said as they walked to the elevator. 

“Done Boss. Would you like to put in an order for pizza to be delivered for dinner?”

“You know me so well, Fri.”

The rest of the day passed pretty well, and Peter was distracted from his lingering worries by the gadgets in Tony’s lab and by the pizza and movies they watched together. But when Tony looked at his watch and told Peter he had to go to bed, he felt his heart sink. 

“Wh--It’s not _that_ late--”

“It’s ten o’clock kid, and even superteens need sleep. Plus I think your Aunt would kill me if I let you stay up any longer,” Tony said, picking up the empty pizza boxes and putting them in the trash before switching off the TV. 

“Well, she doesn’t have to know--”

“As tempting as that is, you really should sleep. Believe me kid, you need rest to function, and I don’t wanna have to deal with a grumpy spider in the morning,” he said with a kindhearted smile. 

Peter barely had the willpower to make himself smile back. Tony gave him a hug before sending him off to his room. Peter got changed into his pajamas, feeling dread rise in his throat like bile with each passing second. He cracked open his door before shutting off the light, taking a small comfort in the fact that Tony would be staying up a little longer. He climbed into bed and did his best to fall asleep before the light in the hall went out. 

~~~

Peter’s eyes opened without his permission. He’d been asleep, and then quite suddenly, he wasn’t. But the effect of waking up was almost instantaneous. 

He couldn’t even see his blankets in front of his face, the darkness was so thick. It was surrounding his arms like heavy ink, filling his lungs with black ashes and _crushing_ him, crushing him like a ton of concrete. He tried to calm himself, to ground himself with _something_ , but he couldn’t _see_ , and the panic was making his fingers feel numb, and seemed to stuff his ears with cotton. 

He threw himself out of bed, stumbling and feeling his bedside table for his phone, but when he couldn’t find it he felt the walls for a light switch. He wanted to cry when he finally felt his fingers graze the small switch, and he flicked it on. 

Nothing happened. 

“No, no no no no--” Peter whimpered, flicking it up and down and up and down, before feeling for the door still resting ajar. He stumbled into the hallway, and even though the windows provided a tiny amount of light, it was too cloudy outside to help much at all. Peter tried the hall lights, then the kitchen, then the living room, feeling tears tumble down his face as they all gave the same, terrifying result as the one in his room. 

“Please, please please please work, please--”

“Kid?”

Peter jumped so hard he almost crushed the switch he was frantically flicking. He turned, and there was Tony, his arc reactor glowing bright through his thin pajama shirt, providing the light Peter had been desperately looking for. Peter had to stop himself from flinging his arms around his mentor. 

“Wh-Why don’t any of the lights work?” Peter said, his voice trembling from fear and tears. 

“There was a storm--the thunder really didn’t wake you? It knocked out the power,” Tony said. 

“N-No, I… I have really loud neighbors.” Peter sniffed, wiping his eyes. “I-I’m s-sorry I woke you up. I d-didn’t mean to.”

“It’s fine, I was just in my room reading anyway--Woah, wait are you crying?” Tony said as he came close enough for his metal heart to light up Peter’s face. Peter started wiping the tears away more quickly, ducking his face a little. 

“Oh, uh, no it’s ok, I’m--”

“Oh Peter,” Tony said softly, laying a hand on Peter’s cheek and wiping a stray tear from his eye. “What happened? Did you have a nightmare?”

“N-no,” Peter said, feeling his face grow hot. 

“Are you sick? Are you hungry? Did you get hurt out on patrol? Peter you gotta tell me when these things happen--”

“No, no no no, it’s not anything like that,” Peter said. “It’s just… it’s stupid. It’s really _really_ stupid.”

“Hey, don’t talk like that,” Tony said gently, pushing curls out of Peter’s shining eyes. “Whatever it is, it scared you, and you don’t have to be ashamed of being scared. Just tell me what happened kiddo.”

Peter ducked his head and squeezed his eyes shut, wringing his hands for a few seconds before he spoke.

“I-I’m scared of the dark!” he blurted. “I-I woke up and the light in the hall was off and it was so dark it-it felt like I was _suffocating_ , and I couldn’t even see my blankets or find my phone and then the lights wouldn’t work and--” Peter broke off with a sob, burying his face in his hands. “It didn’t used to be like this! I used to be able to sleep fine! But now whenever I’m in the dark by myself I feel like there’s something crushing me, like I’m being buried alive by a bunch of concrete and bricks and dust--”

Peter started crying even harder now, the tears falling so fast and his chest growing far too tight to speak any more. Luckily, it seems he didn’t have to, because Tony circled his arms around him, pulling him tightly to his chest so that Peter's head laid right beside his arc reactor. He ran his fingers through Peter’s hair while his other hand rubbed his back as Peter slowly regained composure. When his sobs had reduced to small hiccups and sniffs, Tony spoke. 

“There you go. You’re all spent huh? I haven’t seen you cry like that in a little while,” he murmured, starting to slowly rock them both side to side. 

“I--I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to--”

“Shhh, it’s okay. I don’t care about the crying, it’s okay to cry, remember? And it’s not stupid to be scared of the dark. You’ve been through a lot Pete, and you’re still just a kid. It makes sense that you’re scared of the dark. It’s okay to be scared,” he said, still speaking in that soft, calm voice that made Peter’s shoulders relax. 

“It’s just… kind of annoying,” Peter mumbled. “I _know_ I’m safe, but when I wake up in the middle of the night like that I’m all like, disoriented and freaking out and too tired to get my thoughts in a _logical_ row.”

“What do you usually do when this happens? Does your Aunt know about this?”

“Aunt-Aunt May knows, and I… I, um…” Peter trailed off, feeling his face turn bright red. Tony chuckled, causing Peter’s head to shake slightly on his chest. 

“I won’t judge you kiddo. Just tell me,” he said. Peter bit his lip and avoided Tony’s eyes. 

“I um… I have a nightlight,” he said. “It uh… it looks like your arc reactor.”

“Does it now? So even little toddler Peter liked Iron Man, did he?”

“No--I mean yeah, I did when I was little too, but um, my nightlight from when I was little broke a long time ago. Aunt May bought that for me after the first time I freaked out in the middle of the night,” Peter said. 

“Huh. Why the Iron Man light?”

“It’s not an Iron Man light. It’s a _Mr. Stark_ light,” Peter said. Tony had to think about what he was saying for a moment before he got it.

“Ohhh, _I’m_ your nightlight?”

“Yeah.”

“I… I keep you safe? I stop the uh, the crushing feeling?”

“Yeah.”

“So, why didn’t you bring your, heh, your _Mr. Stark light_ with you? Did you forget it?”

“No, I just… I didn’t want you to make fun of me,” Peter mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Oh kid… I’m sorry,” Tony said, resting his chin on Peter’s head. 

“Huh? For what?” Peter said, opening his eyes in surprise when Tony hugged him a little closer.

“I clearly haven’t done a great job of making sure you know I wouldn’t make fun of you for something like that. I would never make fun of your fears kiddo, even if I _did_ think they were silly. I’m sorry I didn’t make that clear earlier,” Tony said. 

“Oh. Um, it’s alright, it’s fine,” Peter said, not entirely sure what else to say, and absentmindedly tracing his finger around the edge of Tony’s heart. 

“Heh, it’s not really, but I see what you’re trying to say,” Tony said with a small smile. “Well, since we can’t exactly go out and get your Mr. Stark light right now, why don’t you have the real thing for tonight?”

Peter blinked, then lifted his head off Tony’s chest, staring up at him in confusion. 

“What do you mean?”

“You want to sleep in my room tonight kiddo? I’ll be your light, I’ll make sure the dark doesn’t get you,” Tony said.

“A-Are you sure? I don’t wanna intrude or--”

“I’m _offering_ , Spiderling, it’s not intruding if I offer.”

After a moment Peter smiled and nodded, and the two headed to Tony’s room. Tony was sure to grab Peter an extra blanket to help with his thermoregulation, and then they both slid under the covers. 

“Goodnight kiddo,” Tony said, being sure his arc reactor wasn’t hidden beneath the covers. 

“‘Night Mr. Stark,” Peter said with a yawn. “Thanks for being my nightlight.”

Tony smiled, warmth growing in his chest. 

“Of course Peter. If there was only one thing I could use this heart for, I’d want it to always be your light in the dark.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all like this! 
> 
> Feel free to comment your thoughts down below, it helps me figure out the stuff I'm doing right! Also, go ahead and follow me on tumblr @joyful-soul-collector! Let us scream about irondad together


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